ARLINGTON - Texas A&M freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel is so fast he outran secondaries from both the Southeastern and Big 12 conferences this season. His sensational speed helped lead the Aggies to an 11-2 record, an upset of then-No. 1 Alabama, the Heisman Trophy and a 41-13 thumping of Oklahoma in Friday night's Cotton Bowl.

"We tried to keep him contained and stay in the box," Sooners safety Javon Harris said. "But once he slipped out, we were chasing him."

Outplayed, outcoached

Too bad for the Aggies, however, that Manziel's speed can't propel them into the future. The red-hot squad, led by first-year coach Kevin Sumlin, is Exhibit A (and M) on why the playoffs can't arrive soon enough to big-time college football.

"Coach Sumlin and his staff totally outplayed us, and outcoached us, the second half," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said of A&M outscoring OU 27-0 over the final two quarters.

Both squads entered with five straight wins, and the Aggies closed out a season with at least six consecutive victories for the first time since the 1985 season, when they defeated Auburn and Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson 36-16 in the Cotton Bowl.

"This is one of the teams in the country that truly got better every week," Sumlin said of his current bunch.

Leading to the question: What if the Football Bowl Subdivision had, say, an eight-game playoff in 2012? The surging Aggies, pegged ninth in the final BCS rankings leading to the bowl games, likely would be among one of the top two or three teams picked to win a national title.

"When the rules change, there's time to talk about that," Sumlin responded to the "what if" scenario. "You have your schedule, you play your games and you try to win 'em all. That's the way college football is set up right now."

That changes following the 2014 season, when FBS football turns to a four-team playoff system. Playoff advocates hope that if the four-team setup is successful, it will lead to an eight-team postseason.

"The way things are set up now, there's no reason to look back and ask 'what if,' " Sumlin added. "When that format changes, you'll try to play your way into that playoff system."

Perfect on the road

For now, then, the Aggies will enjoy their first perfect mark away from Kyle Field (7-0) since their 1939 national title, in defeating SMU, Mississippi, Auburn, Mississippi State and Alabama on their home fields, and Louisiana Tech and OU at neutral sites.

The Aggies' lone two losses occurred at Kyle Field by a combined eight points to Florida in the season opener and LSU seven games in.

"It's been crazy to see how things have played out," Manziel said. "From the first game to where they are now."

The Aggies are scheduled to return seven starters on offense, but touted junior offensive tackles Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews have yet to announce whether they'll return for their senior seasons or declare for the NFL draft.

A&M should return five starters on defense after junior defensive end Damontre Moore, who finished the season with 121/2 sacks, declared himself eligible for the draft.

"I just want to bask in this moment, and I'm tired of crying," an emotional Moore said after the win over OU, the first time A&M played a Big 12 opponent since exiting the league last summer. "But I (do) want to cry from the excitement and joy from this win."